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Monday, February 15, 2016

Court wants Muslim teenager at risk of becoming a jihadi bride in Syria to watch more TV to 'learn about the wider world - including football and boys'

Police raised concerns about 17-year-old girl being exposed to ISIS

One of a number of east London girls involved in family court litigation

Girl told to 'watch more TV' so she is aware of terrorism dangers abroad

Father supports the idea which would give her a 'wider portal' on the world

A Muslim teenager feared to be in danger of being radicalised and travelling to Syria to become a Jihadi bride should be watching more television, a family court judge has been told.

The teenager, now 17, is one of a number of Muslim girls from east London who found have themselves at the centre of family court litigation after police and social services staff raised concerns about them being exposed to Islamic State ideology.

Mr Justice Hayden is analysing her case at hearings in the Family Division of the High Court and is expected to make decisions relating to how she can be protected later this year.

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The teenager, now 17, found herself at the centre of family court litigation after police and social services staff raised concerns about her being exposed to Islamic State ideology (file photo)

An independent social worker has prepared a report on the teenager for the judge - and one recommendation is that she ought to spend more time in front of the television.

The girl's father says he supports the idea. A barrister represented the girl's father outlined the recommendation during the latest hearing in the case.

Sarah Morgan QC acknowledged the irony of a teenager being encouraged to watch television - and said she could 'imagine the headlines'.

But she said the idea was to expose the teenager to the wider world.

'Unusually, the recommendation is more television,' she said, at a hearing in London on Friday.

'The thinking is that it will be a portal on the wider world - football, boys and so on.'

Mr Justice Hayden is expected to make decisions relating on the teenager's future after analysing the case in detail at two-week hearing in London in April.

He has ruled that the girl cannot be named.

The judge began examining cases involving several teenage girls from east London last year after fears were raised about them travelling to Syria.

Mr Justice Hayden made a number of teenager wards of court - a move which prevented them from leaving the jurisdiction of England and Wales without the permission of a judge - following an application from social services bosses at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.